Soyoung Yoon

Soyoung Yoon (; born 28 October 1984) is a South Korean classical violinist. She is a first-prize winner of the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists and the Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition, and has also been a laureate of the Queen Elisabeth Competition and the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis.

Early life and education Yoon was born in Seoul, South Korea, and began studying the violin at the age of five.

Career Yoon first attracted international attention through major violin competitions. She won first prize at the 2002 Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists, Polish press coverage described her as the winner of the competition's first prize, €30,000 and gold medal. In 2024 she won first prize at the inaugural Tokyo Classic Violin Competition, part of the Classic Violin Olympus initiative.

Yoon has appeared as soloist with orchestras including the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Prague Philharmonia, Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Geneva Chamber Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bern Symphony Orchestra, İzmir State Symphony Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Trondheim Soloists and Zurich Chamber Orchestra. Earlier career biographies also list appearances with the Moscow Virtuosi, London Mozart Players, the National Radio Orchestra of Kiev, the Basque National Orchestra, the Philharmonie der Nationen, the West German Radio Symphony Orchestra and the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Chamber music Yoon was a member of the Stradivari Quartett Zurich from 2009 to 2012.

Recordings In 2012 Yoon recorded the violin concertos of Jean Sibelius and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky with the Gorzów Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Piotr Borkowski, released by the Henryk Wieniawski Musical Society and DUX. A review quoted by Presto Music from Gramophone described the performances as "meticulous" and "highly disciplined", praising the clarity and beauty of tone. MusicWeb International described the recording as a commemoration of her 2011 Wieniawski Competition victory and praised the freshness of the orchestral playing.

She has also recorded Astor Piazzolla's Four Seasons and Mendelssohn's Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Orchestra with pianist Ksenia Kogan and the Korean Chamber Orchestra.

Awards First prize, Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists, 2002 First prize, Cologne International Music Competition, 2003 Winner, Tibor Varga International Violin Competition, 2005 Grand Prix, David Oistrakh International Violin Competition, Odesa, Ukraine, 2006 Prize winner, International Tchaikovsky Competition, 2007 Sixth prize, Queen Elisabeth Competition, 2009 Silver medal, International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, 2010 First prize and gold medal, Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition, 2011 First prize, Tokyo Classic Violin Competition, 2024